Systems, methods, and devices for non-invasive quantitative assessment of mucus
AssigneesWashington University, Tufts Medical Center, Inc.
InventorsChristine O'Brien, Elizabeth Buzbee, Michael House, Alexandra Rutz, Ashley Veade, Jeannie Kelly
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for quantitative assessment of cervical mucus includes a laser speckle rheometer (LSR) and a computing device coupled to the LSR. The computing device includes a processor and a memory. The memory stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, configure the computing device to measure one or more rheologic property of a sample of a subject's cervical mucus using the LSR.
Claims20
A system for quantitative assessment of cervical mucus, the system comprising:
- a laser speckle rheometer (LSR);
- and
- a computing device coupled to the LSR, the computing device including a processor and a memory, the memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, configure the computing device to measure one or more rheologic property of a sample of a subject's cervical mucus using the LSR.
A laser speckle rheometer (LSR) comprising:
- a coherent light source to generate a beam of coherent light;
- a sample holder configured for containing a sample;
- a beam splitter positioned along a first optical axis between the coherent light source and the sample holder to allow the beam from the coherent light source to pass to the sample and to direct backscattered light reflected from the sample along a second optical axis different than the first optical axis;
- and
- a camera positioned along the second optical axis to receive backscattered light reflected from the sample and directed by the beam splitter, wherein at least one of the coherent light source and the sample holder is disposed at a non-zero angle relative to the first optical axis.
A method for non-invasive quantitative assessment of cervical mucus by measuring one or more rheologic property, the method comprising:
- capturing a time-series of speckle images of a sample of a subject's cervical mucus using a laser speckle rheometer (LSR);
- quantifying a decay in a speckle pattern in the time-series of speckle images;
- determining a displacement of particles seen in the time-series of speckle images from an initial position;
- and
- determining a complex modulus of the sample based at least in part on the determined displacement.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.